The Odyssey of the daughter of the forest

Chapter 23 : The Battle Of Helm's Deep

‘’Prepare to fire !’’ Aragorn yelled to the elves he was commanding.

The elves of Lorien took an arrow in their quiver, and aimed at the orcs that was running to the fortress. Tauriel did the same, her hands holding firmly her bow. Whatever would happen, she will keep hope until the last moment, and will fight until her last breath. It was useless to shiver.

‘’Their armour is weak at the neck and beneath the arm’’, announced Legolas.

‘’Fire ! ‘’ the ranger yelled, lowing his arm.

Tauriel shot, and her arrow came throug an orc’s throat. He collapsed to the ground, as hundreds.

‘’Did they hit anything ? ‘’ the dwarf asked her impatiently.

‘’Well, look by yourself, master dwarf’’, she told him, smiling discreetly.

She saw in the corner of her eye that he was giving her a death stare, but she also saw that Leolas was hardly holding a laugh. Around them, the elves were shooting arrow after arrow, without stopping, helped by Theoden’s men.

‘’Hurl to flow ! ‘’ Aragorn screamed.

Tauriel took another arow in her quiver, and, as Aragorn had said, shot again, and again. Their mortal arrows made thier enemies step back for a while, but they finally reached the bottom of the ramparts.

‘’Send them to me ! Come on ! ‘’yelled happily Gimli.

At the bottom of the walls, the orcs, armed with crossbow shot on the elves at the top of the ramparts. Some of them fell to the ground and crashed down the stairs behind them, life already taken of their bodies. Their enemies stepped back, to let pass other orcs, with ladders. With a surprising speed, the ladders hit the rock of the fortress, allowing the orcs to climb up the walls.

‘’Ladders ! ‘’warned Aragorn, and Gimli’s voice echoed it:

‘’Good !’’

Step by step, the orcs used the ladders to climb the remparts, screaming loudly, terrifying the wisest man. Soon, they reached the top of the walls.

‘’Sword ! ‘’ yelled again Aragorn under the rain.

Next to Tauriel, the elves from Rivendell and Lorien pulled out their swords, following the ranger’s orders. The red-hair elf kept her bow in her hand, however, she knew she should take soon her daggers, to keep some arrows in her quiver. An orc was already reaching the top of the remparts, but he has been immediately killed by Gimli with his axe. A second orc jumped over the wall in front of Tauriel, but he did not have the time to go further : he collapsed, an arrow in his throat.

The Mirkwood elf shot all the black forms that , jumping over the wall, was coming in her field of vision. She was regularly turning to stab an orc that was running to her in her back with her arrow, before using the same arrow to shoot another one.

But the orcs were far more numerous than them. They could not holrd their positions against their enemies. The main problem was the ladders. As soon as she could, she fired an arrow at the rope of a ladder, sending it with the orcs on it, crashing to the ground. She did it again, hoping to see the orcs nomber reducing. Unfortunately, more and more was coming.

And the rain was still pouring, incessantly, hard and penetrating. She was really happy to be an elf at precise moment. She could not imagine how the men were living the battle.

‘’Legolas ! Two already !’’ yelled Gimli, somewhere to her left.

‘’I’m on seventeen ! ‘’ the blond elf answered back.

Tauriel smiled, and kept counting the number of orcs she was killing, silently. 18…19…20…

‘’I’ll have no pointy-ear outscoring me ! ‘’ screamed the dwarf, going back to fight.

Concentrating on her fight, she tried to forget the dwarf, who was still counting loudly the number of orcs killed. She has been very proud to know she had killed more than him. But Gimli did not know that yet, and he had fun to kill his enemies, with enthusiastcis exclamations.

An roaring uruk arrived in front of Tauriel. She put her bow in her back and took her daggers, before coming closer to him. Without even thinking, the beast raised his sword.  She stepped on the right, turning on herself, and she finally stabbed him in the neck. He fell to the ground with a last gurgling and she made her way on the remparts, keeping an eye on what was going on in her back. The enemies were coming from everywhere.

She faced her new opponent, as horrifying as the last one. But, fortunately, if they were terrifying most of the people by their physique, they were not very clever. They were just hitting everything that move, without a real plan. So, it did not take a long time to the elf to kill her enemy with her daggers.

She was turning back to kill another beast when she saw a group of orcs that was climbing the causeway to the Deep gates. They were protected  by long shields, as Gimli had said. When her enemy died, she looked around her to find Aragorn, and to warn him. He was fighting an orc that was taller than him, but it seemed to Tauriel that he was to winning. Indeed, a few seconds later, the orc collapsed. She drew attention to herself.

‘’Aragorn ! The causeway !’’ she yelled, to be heard through the rain and the sounds of the battle.

The ranger quickly looked at the said causeway, and his eyes immediately became wide opened. He turned to the elves under his command, and showed them the causeway, where the uruks were dangerously moving to the top.

‘’The causeway ! Fire at the causeway !’’ he screamed on her left.

Instantly, all the orcs to his side turned their bow to their enemies, and a cloud of arrows fell on them. A lot of them have been shot adn fell from the causeway. However, the group kept moving to the gates, again and again.

Cursing these beasts, Tauriel put her daggers in her sheath took her bow. She swiftly took an arrow, that pierced the air to join the others. She shot some again, until the moment she felt a new opponent coming in her back. An arrow past near her ears, but she did not care. A dagger in a hand, her bow in the other, she turned back. Then, she saw an orc, two steps in front of her, stopped in his momentum  by a mortal arrow in the throat. The uruk collapsed to her feet without a noise.

She stopped in her movement, her hand ready to kill in the air. Gradually, her arm went down, and stayed along her body. She glared at the dead orc at her feet, before looking up slowly to get lost in an hypnotizing blue stare.

Legolas was standing a few feet away, his bow in his hand, short of breath. Marks of dirtiness could be seen on his face, but his natural beauty was still there. She could not look away. She did not want to look away. And it seemed that he did not want to look away either. She nodded to thank him, her heart beating faster than usual. He had just saved her life. It was at that moment that she knew she coud not live without him.  Even if she had troubles to face her reals feelings, she was at least sure of that.

Unfortunately too soon, an orc arrived on the blond elf, and he turned to fight him. Tauriel turned too, and took back her bow, ready to kill as many enemies as possible.

New oppenents rushed to her, forcing her to be focused on the fight. A sword entered her field of vision and she leaned to avoid the blade. A few seconds later, the firt orcs has been  beheaded. She came closer to the second one.

‘’Bring him down, Legolas !’’

Aragorn’s voice peirced the air, anxious and urgent. Already fighting an orc, Tauriel could not turn, but she strongly hoped that Legolas’ arrows would reach their target. She moved aside her enemy’s blade, and swiflty cut his throat.

‘’Kill him! Kill him!’’ yelled again Aragorn.

She heard some orcs exclamations and, then a deafening sound with a huge explosion. Tauriel fell to the ground, on her back, because of the strength of the detonation. When she opened her eyes, a second later, she saw tens of bodies flying in the air, before reaching the ground with violence. And that was not the worst : there was now a large breach in the remparts. The orcs’s army ran into it.

She was getting up when an orc rushed to her. As a reflex, she put her daggers above her head, in a cross shape, blocking her enemy’s blade. She kicked him in the stomach and the orc knelt, offering her the time to get up. Then, she planted her daggers into his neck flesh, letting him collapse to the ground, dead.

Breathing deeply, she dared to look around her, and saw the orcs at the gates of the Deep, almost broken. From above, men of Rohan  were throwing stones and spears, perhaps hoping it could make them step back. But it was impossible : their enemies had a goal, and they would not leave until the end.

In the center of the breach, the elves under Aragorn’s command were still fighting fiercely against the orcs. She saw the ranger next to Gimli, who was hitting the uruks with his axe each time one of them was entering his field of vision. She turned her eyes away from her two companions, looking for the thrid one. She has been very relieved to see him on the ramparts.

Their enemies were more and more to rush into the breach. The elves, Aragorn and Gimli, needed help. She made her way to the stairs with her daggers and finally reached the first step. She leaned to avoid a blade, before pushing the orc in the void with a kick.

She was in the middle of the stairs when the order of retreat from the king sounded in the Deep. Aragorn yelled it again to all the elves. Tauriel saw from far away Haldir’s blond hair. But she saw too an orc coming too close to the ranger. Putting back her daggers in her back, she took her bow and an arrow. She stepped back to have a long run-up, and, as the same time she jumped from the stairs, she shot the orc, that knelt in pain. Aragorn turned around, and beheaded him with his sword. When he met her stare, he thanked him with a nod, before going back to the fight, yelling again the order of retreat.

Not far from her, Legoals- who had joined the inside of the ramparts- was pushing Gimli to the stronghold, helped by another elf.  She followed them, keeping an eye behind her. The fighters ran back to the stronghold, persued by the orcs. They all got up the large stairs that to the top, their enemies still following them. Soon, they reached the bastion, a safe place, yet for the moment.

The big door that kept the Deep entrance, was about to cede. All the men were running in this direction, yelling battle cries. Like an echo, Tauriel heard the orcs’ steps, alway menacing. On the double, the four companions joined the rest of the troops, or at least, what was left of them. And the night was not yet over. When they passed on the top of the walls, she used some arrows to shot a few orcs, that collapsed in pain.

The rain was still pouring, darkening this night that did not seem to have an end.

The two elves stayed on the ramparts while Gimli and Aragorn ran to help men of Rohan to the gates of the Deep, that, after each attack, was more and more about to cede.  A few seconds later, she saw both of them on the causeway leading to the gates. She frowned : how Gimli had jumped that far ? Aragorn had certainly helped him…and the dwarf was without a doubt hoping that Legolas will never know this.  He was much too proud.

She kept shoting on the orcs, smiling with discretion. Legolas was not far. The fight was going on.

But soon, the two friends became overhelmed by the orcs that were coming to them. They needed help. Tauriel killed the uruk she was fighting, and told Legolas, who was shoting several orcs in the same time, that she was going to join them.  She was turning back to take the passage followed by Aragorn and Gimli when someone grabbed her arm. She turned her heard to meet once more this penetrating gaze. His hand was giving her welcomed  heat waves in this darked humidity.

‘’Come back to me’’, he whispered.

During a few fragments of seconds, she stayed petrified by his words. Then, she saw in his eyes the reflection of her feelings, and she understood what he was meaning. She nodded, and answered.

‘’Always’’.

She stepped back, and his hand slowly slipped on her arm, before reaching her fingertips. They brushed each other  them a few instants, before moving away for real, taking away by the mass of fighters. His gaze left hers, and she took the gates direction.  She followed the little passage, and arrived on a rocky path. At a few meters on her right, there was the causeway that lead to the gates, where Aragorn and Gimli was fighting.  She approached the edge, and jumped over the void to join her two companions.

‘’Well ! You finally there ! ‘’the dwarf told him.

It seemed to Tauriel that he was having fun to give axe blows. Aragorn, who was usually more discreet on his expressions, was too feeling a certain satisfaction to kill his enemies. Behind them, warriors of Rohan were trying to barricade the door as much as the could, with beam. King Theoden’s orders came up toe her elvish ears.

Her daggers in her hands, she made her way through the mass of orcs. When one of them was dying, he collapsing and falling into the void at both sides of the causeway. They killed as many orcs as they could, but they were still much more numerous than them. Much, much more. Further, at the ramparts bottom,the orcs were once again using their ladders to reach the top of the stronghold. She kept fighting, prefering to be concentrated on the fight than on her complex thoughts.

‘’Gimli, Aragorn, Lady Tauriel, get out of there !  ‘’yelled the king behind them.

At the same time, Legolas’ voice echoed the one of the king. From the top of the wall, he threw them a rope. Aragorn turned to her, hesitating.

‘’Go, I will take again the passage ‘’, she told him.

Without even listening to his answer, she pushed them to the rope, and Aragorn took it, bringing Gimli with him. From above, Legolas pulled them up over the wall. She faced the orcs on the causeway, taking the time to repel them before jumping again over the void. In an instant, she was back in the courtyard, the gates menacing to definitely cede. She got up and joined her three companions, who were coming from the ramparts. She did not miss the relieved gaze of the blond elf.

The order of retreat sounded a second time, and, at the same time, the gates yielded.

They all hurried to enter the great hall, and soldiers closed the doors. A tide of orcs rushed into the Deep.

The night was yet dark. They woud have to hold.